Can architecture play a role in informing future refugee policy and movement?

MITA is an outdated model borne out of discriminatory policies and legislation designed to oppress anyone who doesn’t fit into the narrow ideals of being the ‘right sort’ for Australia. The architecture of MITA then, reflects these xenophobic tendencies, it is a series of spaces designed to denigrate those who occupy it.

Following a design studio run at Monash University ‘If Not MITA’ is examining, critiquing and reconceptualising the latent conditions that allowed MITA to exist, there has been a close reading of policy, public and academic opinions and existing architectural outcomes to form a field of operations in which the students have rethought not only the urban planning and architecture of MITA, but also its role and legacy in Broadmeadows and society.

This exhibition will continue this line of investigation. The outcomes of our research will be analysed, developed and critiqued, refining the intent and response to the wider policy and legislative investigations. We will also continue exploring said investigations, aiming to further unpack them and reveal their consequences, spatial or otherwise. Ultimately, these investigations will be presented through the exhibition, with the intent of using them as a platform for discourse and debate through a series of events that will run in conjunction with the exhibition.

Marcella Palma

Adrian Fernandez

Sreelakshmi Arun

Benjamin Brooks

Tiffany Dang

Kyle Howden

Nada Khartabil

Hai Linh La

Rebecca Mallaby

Eren Mehmet

Thomas O’Brien

Nerissa Oung

Stephanie Wong